


Down with the sickness

by Bereus



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Comfort, Comfort No Hurt, Drabble, F/M, Ficlet, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Golden Deer Route, Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, M/M, Mentioned Golden Deer Students (Fire Emblem), Mild Hurt/Comfort, No Angst, One Shot, Reader-Insert, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Romantic Friendship, Sick Character, Sickfic, Slow Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, heat wave, hinted romance - Freeform, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:54:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23130523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bereus/pseuds/Bereus
Summary: A heat wave hits Garreg Mach, you're feeling sick, and Claude's being Claude.OrA sickfic where you basically get pampered
Relationships: Claude von Riegan & Reader, Claude von Riegan/Reader, Claude von Riegan/You
Comments: 4
Kudos: 161





	Down with the sickness

**Author's Note:**

> I finally wrote something for my boy!! My baby! My fav! I hope it turned out okay.
> 
> I don’t actually think that Claude would be the type to indulge in adolescent love seriously pre-ts (or well really even post ts) as he’s shown to be more focused on accomplishing his goals and fulfilling his ambitions than admiring a pretty face. Nevertheless I’m indulging myself even if he’s slightly OOC.

“Hey, are you okay?” Claude asked as he leaned over your crumpled form on the bed so he could see your face. When you didn’t respond he lightly poked you in the side, which resulted in you shifting your body away from him and grumbling.

You curled up into a ball, squeezing your knees closer to your chest as you moaned. “Ugh, can you not?”

“Is it your stomach?” He pestered as he leaned one arm over your form, trapping you in his arms. “Come on, tell me.”

“I dont know.” You growled out into your pillow, turning further away from Claude who soon resorted to spreading himself over your form, squishing you further into the mattress. His body heat turning you into a burrito about to explode in the microwave. “Get off! You’re squishing me.”

“Can’t move. Not until you tell me what’s wrong.” He sang before letting his full body weight fall on you.

“You suck.” 

“Yet you love me anyways.”

“Sad, but true.” You sighed in resignation before returning the poke he’d given earlier, causing Claude to laugh before rolling off your form. The two of you lay on your backs, staring up at the ceiling in your room, baking away in the humidity. 

It was the summer season in Fodlan, meaning that everyone was doing their best to staunch the heat however possible. Classes were postponed for the day as the heat had acclimated to a degree that left many delirious. (Looking at you Blue Lions.) The two of you had been using wet rags that had been forcibly dispersed among the students and staff to help keep their body temperatures lower. 

“How is this heat not bothering you?” You cried out in frustration as you sank further into the pillows on your bed, blankets long since discarded on the floor with most of your outerwear. If you had any dignity for propriety you may have been embarrassed that Claude was seeing you in only your pajamas, but you didn’t so you weren’t.

“I’m used to hot weather.” He replied vaguely, a relaxed smile resting on his lips. His eyes remained trained on your room’s ceiling.

You made a face. You were tempted to ask him what in Fodlan that meant since you had assumed he was raised in Deirdru like the other Riegan nobles, but thought better than to ask. You had learned at the beginning of the year that he didn’t appreciate your nosey nature. Yet somehow the two of you had become friends anyways. Or at least you considered Claude a friend. It was hard to say how he felt about you, much less the rest of your classmates in the Golden Deer. Except perhaps Lorenz who he often butted head’s with.

You rolled your eyes before rejoining him in staring at the ceiling. 

“Alright, keep your secrets.” You said with a curled smile which made Claude snort before readjusting himself on his bed.

Secret technique’s on being unaffected by the heat or otherwise you were jealous of your house leader. You weren’t coping with the heat nearly as well as him. You weren’t sure if it was the heat exactly or something you ate, but your stomach had been twisting all day in discomfort. Your brain pounding inside of your skull did little to contribute positively to your situation.

The two of you had originally planned to meet in your room to discuss possible strategies in the upcoming mission, yet when Claude had entered your room and seen that you had morphed into a pile of goop, he suggested grabbing some cold treats from the dining hall before lounging in your room. Which made you wonder...

You turned to Claude, wiping the sweat off your forehead. “Are you sure you didn’t poison me?”

“Me? Never.”

“I’m serious Claude.”

“So am I!” He spoke with a laugh as he raised himself onto his elbows, book flat on his chest as he peered down at you, eyebrows raising in question. “My heart is broken. To think one of my dearest classmates would pin the blame on me!” He spoke with the level of drama that only Ferdinand von Aegir could match. 

“How ever will you survive.” You muttered sarcastically before you folded your arms over your stomach, fingers intertwined into your night clothes, wrinkling the fabric. 

You could feel beads of sweat trail down your forehead until it reached the sheets under you. The hair at the base of your neck was damp. Claude was in a similar situation. His naturally unruly curls were blown up as the humidity got to them, a pink barrette that Hilda had given him to keep his hair back in the hot weather, pinned his bangs in place.

When Claude saw that you were too drained to get a rise out of, he turned to face you and simply stared. You stuck your tongue out at him, to which he returned the gesture like the mature young adult he was before picking up his book, his eyes wandered for a short moment as he looked for the sentence he had left off on. You couldn’t see the front of the book from where you lay sprawled on your bed, but you no doubt imagined it was some boring book on bizarre legends in Fodlan’s history. 

The two of you sat there in the quiet of your room. Your window was open, allowing the sound of the outside world entering your room to enter, becoming the only indicator that time was indeed passing. The wind rustled the trees, and the chatter of birds and students alike echoed into your room, the only inorganic sound being yours and Claude’s breathing and the occasional page turn. It was peaceful, the calm creating a serene atmosphere. 

You could almost fall asleep if it wasn’t for the disgusting amount of sweat on your body. The thought of going to the Sauna to wash up crossed your mind, but was quickly assuaged as it would take too much effort to leave the confinements of your room. You could only imagine how Bernadetta was doing in the heat, the girl refusing to leave her room for anything but mission’s and the occasional tea party.

Normally you wouldn’t mind that Claude was laying in the same bed as you. You were often unable to sleep due to night terrors, and Claude’s brain was full of too many thoughts to let him rest, so the two of you often kept company in the long nights either in your room or the library. There was a lot of mystery surrounding Claude, but one thing you had begun to notice was how touch starved he was, or perhaps you both were as you made no complaints to the occasional touch. But with the heat wave passing through Garreg Mach, even his comforting presence made the room feel as though it were ten degrees warmer. So when Claude subtly shifted closer to you, you made a noise of complaint. 

“Get away from me.” You protested as you leaned away from his equally sweaty body. “I don’t feel good. And it’s hot. And you’re hot-”

“I’m flattered, but-.”

“Not what I meant.” You interrupted his jest, slightly irritated. “It’s too hot for cuddles. I just want to sleep off whatever this is, but I can’t fall asleep, it’s too hot.” You moaned as you tightened your grip on your sweat caked clothes, as though that would appease your upset stomach. 

Claude thought for a moment with an unreadable expression on his face before lowering his book enough so that he could peer down at you. “Want me to read to you?”

The question surprised you. It wasn’t uncommon for you to ask Claude to read to you whatever had caught his attention in the library late at night in your room. Though it was rare for him to agree, much less to offer. Occasionally Claude would agree to reading his book aloud for you, but you noticed that it was only in your room, never in the library where other’s could be potentially listening. Though whenever he agreed it was a treat. The future leader of the Alliance was an amazing storyteller. If he didn’t already have a future as a Duke you would’ve recommended he become a Bard. 

As though a sudden burst of energy filled your exhausted body, you moseyed your way on up to his side, the damp cloth on your head falling down as you rested your chin on his shoulder, an eager grin spreading on your face. 

“Yes, please!”

Claude simply hummed in response, offering a snort at your demeanor before grabbing the rag that had fallen off your forehead. He leaned over your frame to reach the nightstand where a pitcher and bowl of water lay, rewetting the rag once more before unceremoniously plopping it back onto your forehead with a wet slop. The coldness made you jerk in surprise. 

Once the both of you had settled in, he moved his grip until one of his arms lay underneath your form so his hand moved to card his fingers through your hair slowly. The other held his book up so he could read it.

You hummed in appreciation as you curled closer to him, grateful to be near another being despite the heat you had complained about earlier. 

“So you’ll let me close if I pamper you.” He teased in a drawl as he scratched your scalp gently with his nails.

“I’d give you the moon if only to stay by your side and listen to you tell stories.” You told him in all seriousness.

“High praise.”

“Only given when it’s deserved.” You replied as you drummed your fingers on his chest impatiently, urging him to start reading with childish excitement. 

As you felt the soaked rag on your forehead drip down your face and over your eyelid, you felt your body in turn begin to cool down, goosebumps making the hair on your arms stand as you blinked slowly to clear your vision from the droplets, before your eyes soon shut. Your body calming down until all of the outside noises eventually turned out to the rumbles echoing in your ears as you listened to Claude read the book aloud. 

The story itself wasn’t that interesting to you. History never had been your favorite subject. Yet Claude’s zeal for the subject was infectictious as the sound of his voice regaling tales to you managed to make a small smile crawl onto your face. Your eyelids fluttered shut so you could focus solely on absorbing the sound vibrating through his chest. Claude continued running his free hand through your hair. Only pausing the ministration to flip the page in his book.

“I can tell you think this one’s a real page turner.” He said with mirth in his voice as he stopped reading to glance down at your face squished against his shoulder, one leg thrown over his as you got more comfortable.

“Don’t stop. I’m listening.” You spoke in a stuffy voice, your eyes remained closed.

“Could’ve fooled me. It looks like you're turning into Professor Hanneman. Watching that man try not to fall asleep during meetings is far more entertaining than the contents of the meetings themselves.”

You responded by slowly blinking open your eyes and reaching up to unpin the pink barrette in his hair, ignoring Claude’s protests, you shifted to put it on your nightstand before returning to your spot, nestled in Claude's arms. 

“Now that’s just rude. What did that barrette ever do to you?”

“It was mocking me. If you’d heard the things it said, you would’ve done the same thing.” 

“I’ll have to take your word for it.” He complied as he tightened his grip on you, a smile evident in his voice.

You closed your eyes, slipping your arms over Claude before sinking into his arm's. The feeling of security lulling you into unconsciousness as you fell further in your friend’s embrace. 

**Author's Note:**

> Once again I did the bare minimum of Editing haha 
> 
> A lot has been going on in my life, both with family drama and the whole pandemic going on. It’s made me very stressed haha. I’ve been trying to distract myself from the situation by writing and rewatching Gintama. 
> 
> Edit: ahhhhhh this is my most popular fic thank you all so much! Trying not to cry irl Lmao
> 
> Please comment and leave a kudo’s to tell me know what you thought! They really help motivate me to write. Nevertheless thanks for reading! Stay safe everyone!


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